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Japan Leader to Keep Nuclear Phase-Out

Yoshihiko Noda, Japan's new prime minister, and his cabinet members after an official ceremony Friday in Tokyo.Credit
Toru Hanai/Reuters

TOKYO — Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, promised on Friday to keep Japan on its path of phasing out nuclear power, saying it was “unrealistic” to build any new reactors in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis or to extend those at the end of their life spans.

In his first speech to the nation as prime minister, Mr. Noda, Japan’s former finance minister and a fiscal conservative, also said Japan would seek to rebuild its tattered finances even as it pays for reconstruction after the country’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident in March.

“Speeding up the recovery and reconstruction process is our biggest mission. We must also work to bring the nuclear crisis to an end as swiftly as possible,” Mr. Noda said. “But our finances are also on the brink. We must strike a balance between economic growth and fiscal discipline.”

The government will seek to cut wasteful spending in other areas to squeeze out extra money, Mr. Noda said, but could also introduce a time-limited tax to meet any shortfalls.

Mr. Noda, Japan’s sixth prime minister in five years, on Friday officially succeeded Naoto Kan, who was criticized for his handling of the response to the crisis that began on March 11. Some subsequent bold policy moves — like shutting down another nuclear power plant thought to be vulnerable to tsunamis — were not enough to reverse a sharp slide in Mr. Kan’s popularity ratings.

The new prime minister inherits a government that has largely lost the confidence of the Japanese people.

In his inaugural address Friday, Mr. Noda said he was committed to phasing out nuclear power, a path set by Mr. Kan. But Mr. Noda also stressed that reducing Japan’s dependence on nuclear power would be a gradual process, and that reactors that have fallen idle over safety fears since the Fukushima Daiichi accident would be restarted, albeit after stringent checks and gaining the understanding of local communities.

“To build new reactors is unrealistic, and we will decommission reactors at the end of their life spans,” he said.

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“But it is also impossible to immediately reduce our dependence to zero,” he added.

He also warned that high costs and a strong yen were forcing manufacturing from Japan’s shores, and he promised policies — including intervention in global currency markets — to curb the rise in the yen. Small- and medium-size businesses were especially in need of government support, he said, appealing to an important political base.

Defusing potential flare-ups with Asian neighbors, Mr. Noda said he would not visit a contentious Tokyo war shrine that honors Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals. Visits by past prime ministers have angered neighbors like China and South Korea, where many still harbor bitter memories over Japan’s colonial rule in the region.

Mr. Noda, a surprise choice by the governing Democratic Party as prime minister, has promised a nose-to-the-grindstone approach to policy making rather than grand appeals to public sentiment. In an emotional speech before the party vote on Monday that elevated him to the top spot, he compared himself to a hardworking loach, a bottom-feeding yet resilient fish.

Mr. Noda’s remarks came as he picked a cabinet of fresh faces.

Jun Azumi, 49, a former journalist, was named finance minister, taking over a crucial portfolio as Mr. Noda seeks to balance reconstruction needs with reining in debt, now more than twice the size of its $5 trillion economy. The new foreign minister, Koichiro Gemba, 47, is the son of a sake brewer who worked on redrafting Japan’s energy policy as national policy minister in the previous administration.

Both are relatively young and have little experience in their respective fields. The new cabinet included few big names, perhaps in keeping with Mr. Noda’s low-key leadership style. Two women made the 18-member lineup: Revitalization Minister Renho, who uses only one name, and the health, labor and welfare minister, Yoko Komiyama.

Yoshio Hachiro, 64, a left-leaning veteran lawmaker and a proponent of alternative energy, will take over another crucial portfolio as economy, trade and industry minister, with oversight of the nuclear industry. The ministry has been criticized for its ties to industry, which many critics said prevented it from properly regulating the troubled sector.

A version of this article appears in print on September 3, 2011, on Page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Japan Leader to Keep Nuclear Phase-Out. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe